Ryan Martin’s Indiana Ag Forecast for January 2, 2019

Dry weather over the state today, but clouds may prove to be a tough foe to overcome. We are making some tweaks in our forecast this morning, and together, they are moving our outlook a little drier. Today, look for a mix of clouds and sun, and temps stay near normal for early January.

Our next system is not kicking out of the southern plains as quickly and also is looking to stay slightly farther south. Because of that we are shifting to a completely dry Thursday period with south winds developing and warming temps. Then for Friday, we see clouds increase, particularly in the south. Rain does not arrive in southern Indiana until later Friday afternoon, and then continues overnight into early Saturday before diminishing. Our expectations are for .05”-.5” from I-70 southward. At this time, we think rain stays out of areas from I-70 northward. The big question will be precipitation type near the north end of the action. Temps will be falling Friday night to the middle 30s, and that may be enough to trigger some sloppy wet snow flakes closer to the I-70 corridor, but that is where the lightest moisture is anyway, so perhaps nothing really happens. Time will tell. The map above shows precipitation potential as we finish the week.

Dry for the weekend and cool with north winds returning. We should see clouds mix with some sun. Then a cold front sweeps through from the NW for Monday, bringing .1”-.6” rain to 80% of the state. This takes temps down for a day or two into midweek next week.

South winds re-develop for the end of next week, allowing temps to move to normal and a bit above normal levels. However, we have no significant precipitation threat for the last part of the week. The extended period starts off a little active, with two minor disturbances for the 12th and 13th, each bringing mostly rain, and combined moisture totals up to .4”. But the remainder of the 11-16 day forecast period looks to be drier, from the 14th through the 17th. Colder air is pushing in for that stretch, and the northwest flow will keep clouds top of mind, particularly in the northern part of the state, and we won’t rule out lake effect there. However, strong fronts do not look to have significant impact at mid-month.